Got an Identity Crisis? Wider Reading (Poetry) 14: Knowing Me

In his poem, Benjamin Zephaniah constantly emphasises how proud he is to simply be who he is, whether it be British, black, dyslexic, or a poet. He does not "feel lost," neither is he against relations with other ethnicities, as "diversity is [his] pornography" and he does not need to have an "identity crisis to feel oppressed". Unlike other poems on slavery, oppression and imprisonment, Zephaniah takes a more modern approach and combines the society which he lives in to his own personal views on identity matters. He does not allow what happened to his ancestors to affect his identity and feels accepted in the world he lives in now.

The constant repetition of “I don’t have an identity crisis” is used almost as a refrain, and relentlessly reinforces its message. The language used is a mixture of Standard English and Afro-Caribbean English, complete with words such as “dis” and “kool.” Zephaniah lampoons the type of language used by those such as the “Workshop Facilitator” in favour of humorous word-play. From his language at least, it seems that the writer is clear about his identity and, contrary to expectations, transcends what he, as a black Englishman, is expected to feel.

The poem may be light in tone, but underlying it is exasperation, particularly in the final stanza, when the poet proclaims that he is “sick of people asking me if I feel British or West Indian,” as if every capitalized identity has become merely a stereotype.

Knowing Me - Identity Quotations